Black ancestors of the British Royal Family

Some of you may know I visited Buckingham Palace during 

its limited summer opening season.  

The palace was what you expect: 

high ceilings, intricate cornicing, and a vast art collection.

There was one painting hanging in the Green Drawing Room in particular that made an impression on me.

Via 

This portrait is of Queen Charlotte with 2 of her 15 children she eventually gave birth to 

who was married to King George III 

as in the mad one whose life was made into this movie.

In fact, Helen Mirren won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress playing this very queen.

I love history which by default is closely linked to ebbs and fortunes of the royal family. My favorite branch of the British Royals is the Stuarts; my unusual crush being King Charles the Second.

Via wikipedia

His great grandmother Mary, Queen of Scots has to be one of the most complicated and interesting women out there.  Don't take my word for it but how many women 500 years later still get talked about?

Via wikipedia

 But I am not a huge fan of the Hanoverian branch of the family who were known as of 1918 as the Windsors.  

I have my reasons...

Queen Victoria is probably my least favorite monarch.

Have you seen these documentaries? 

If not, believe me you will share my opinion.

There are usually royal jokes about inbreeding and cousins marrying cousins which resulted in genetic dispositions such as hemophilia.

But when I saw the portrait I was struck how mixed race 

she looked and perhaps the inbreeding was only a trend 

during Queen Victoria's era.

Upon researching this after my visit, I found indeed that this theory has been supported through not only her personal physician,

Dr. Hedley, stating in his diaries that she had "a true mulatto face".  But there was also an official poem penned to her during her marriage and coronation.

Descended from the warlike Vandal race,
She still preserves that title in her face.
Tho' shone their triumphs o'er Numidia's plain,
And and Alusian fields their name retain;
They but subdued the southern world with arms,
She conquers still with her triumphant charms,
O! born for rule, - to whose victorious brow
The greatest monarch of the north must bow.

Apparently, most portrait artists of the time had anglicized her features and lightened her skin color.  

The origins of her African roots is traced to Margarita de Castro de Sousa, a member of the black branch of the Portuguese royal family that married into the German royal families. 

But there were a few pictures that might have been closer to her true self.

The portraits displaying the more African nature of her face was 

Sir Allan Ramsay.  He was married to the niece of 

Lord Mansfield who was the judge that in 1772 made the first of many legal decisions that led to the formal abolition years later.

Interestingly enough, it seems that the queen was not the only woman of black descent in society to have her portrait taken.

Via

Sir Ramsay also painted this portrait of Lord Mansfield's black niece with a cousin.  These images were used in the Abolition movement against slavery both in Britain and in the United States.

Though slavery was only abolished in the UK after her death, 

Queen Charlotte is known to have been a supporter to the 

Anti-Saccharite Cause. 

This was a movement to stop the use of all sugar derived from 

slave labour plantations.

She in her own way had involvement towards the cause which eventuated in the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

One of few portratis of Queen Phillippa Via

On a side note, Queen Caroline was not the first British black queen consort.  Apparently, Queen Phillipa who married King Edward II was also of both black and central Asian ancestry. Ironically her son and heir was called Edward the Black Prince though there are many theories on the reasoning behind it.

One of the many reasons for the recent surge of the royal family's popularity was the marriage of royal William to commoner Kate who is of mixed ancestry that includes French Huguenot, English and possibly but tenuous Jewish blood along with various social classes including northern mining stock.

Queen with other Commonwealth leaders Via

I read during the research that Queen Elizabeth referred to her mixed ancestry in an apology defending her position as head of the Commonwealth just before her coronation in 1953 but try as I might I can not find a copy of the speech. 

I am surprised that the royal family don't publicize these interesting parts of the family legacy which should surely only endear them to the Commonwealth further.  But in any case, I enjoyed learning something new and just wanted to share with those who might also be interested.